Why Do We Love Small Towns?
Photo courtesy of Netflix.
Most of us don’t live in tiny, close-knit communities. And yet, they’re all over our entertainment, whether TV shows or books or movies. Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. Avonlea from Anne of Green Gables. Pawnee from Parks and Recreation. Forks from the Twilight series. Everwood from Everwood. Mitford from Jan Karon’s Mitford series.
I’d consider myself a city girl, having been raised in Los Angeles and lived in New York City for years. And yet, when I sat down to write my first novel, Chapter One Again, there was no question about where much of it would take place: a small town.
It’s safe to say that whether we live in a mid-sized suburb, a big city, or a tiny village, we love stories about small towns. But why? Why do so many of the stories we choose take place in small towns when most of us haven’t had that lived experience? Why does it seem like small towns have a near-universal draw?
01 | They feel safe.
I don’t think I have to convince anyone that the world we live in is, and has always been, chaotic, exhausting, and at times, scary. And now more than ever before, we have access to news about the terrible things happening thousands of miles away, in other countries, other continents. This is more tragedy than we were ever meant to be exposed to.
Small towns offer us a sense of escape. They’re contained, removed from danger, totally safe. Nothing truly bad can happen in Stars Hollow or Avonlea, and when it feels like everything truly bad can (and often does) happen in the real world, these fictional small towns can help our hearts and minds take a breath in a place where everything is okay.
02 | They feel like home.
Just a hundred years ago, it wasn’t nearly as common to move away from your hometown. It was typical to grow up, marry someone from your town, and stay close to family. But these days, it’s normal to move away for college, establish yourself in your chosen city, and live far enough away from family that you can only visit a couple times a year. As a result, we’re lonelier than we’ve ever been.
This has created in us a need for home, a familiar place, a setting we know well that is separate from our day-to-day lives. Fictional small towns answer the loneliness that can creep in when we’re out on our own, far away from home. They’re a home away from home, populated with characters that behave like family, with storylines that feel cozy.
03 | They remind us that “normal” lives are meaningful too.
Nothing that flashy happens in Pawnee. Episode after episode, Everwood remains a typical small town. And yet, we all want to be there, right in the middle of it, tuned in to the happenings around town.
I think a lot of us have this specific notion of what a meaningful life looks like. I know I do. And a lot of the time, what we think of as a life that means something includes an impressive job or title, a big city setting, or a hefty social media following. Essentially, we think whatever isn’t “normal” must mean something greater.
But then why do we find ourselves drawn to these fictional small towns, where ultimately very normal things happen? I think it’s because we realize that we have normal lives, and we want to know if they can still matter. Small towns show us the beauty in the everyday and the purpose in the simplest of lives.
04 | They speak to a desire to belong.
There’s one rule that every writer setting their story in a small town follows, and it’s this: everyone knows everyone else’s business. Sometimes, that’s used in a comedic, somewhat silly, way. (Think Mrs. Rachel Lynde from Avonlea, and Miss Patty and Babette from Stars Hollow.)
But other times, it’s used in a touching way. In a way to illustrate how just a handful of people can fill up your life. We all long to have people who know us, see us, think of us. We want to know that we’re cared enough about to keep tabs on. We want a place to belong. And in these fictional small towns, that’s exactly what every resident experiences — both acceptance and care.
05 | They’re like a little slice of heaven.
More than anything, I think our penchant for small towns can be traced back to a longing we were all created with — a longing for eternity. A place where there’s community and goodness and safety and beauty, where evil will not prevail and we know that everything will be okay.
Of course, we won’t experience that in this world. But we can envision it, and even allow ourselves to taste it through these small towns, our favorite slices of heaven.